Alternate Route
by Pen2Computer
Summary: Saving Bella and putting his family in danger was too much for Edward. He was getting too attached to the girl. So he left. Now, 3 months later, both of them cannot shake the feeling that they've lost something huge. Will Edward be able to recapture his fate, even if she's left Forks and gone back to her home town? Will Bella let him? Destiny's never had it this hard. R & R please.


Disclaimer: I own nothing. Really. Not even a pack of Oreos. And definitely not any part of Twilight.

_Bella POV _

_The snow falls down in drifts, soft and white, hitting the ground silently. _

_So silently. _

_Everything is silent. _

_Around me, people drift pass. I catch sight of Jessica, hanging on to Lauren's arm, and giggling as she recounts an endless story. Her mouth moves, but no sounds come out. _

_Everything is silent. _

_I should go. Worry fills my body, but I don't know why. What is there to be worried about? It's just another day. Isn't it? I breathe in, deeper than usual, heavy enough that it should make some noise. But it doesn't. _

_Everything is silent..._

_Until, that it, it isn't. _

_The screech of tires slipping across snow covered asphalt is so loud, so overpowering, that I cringe back from it. I look toward the sound. See the truck. See my coming demise..._

_And then his arms are around me, and I'm hitting the ground, hard. The crack of my head against the cement is thunderous—it appears all sound is back again—but I'm not dead. I'm not. I'm still alive. Wonder fills my body. And then he looks at me, and he says—_

"No!" I bolt up in bed, clutching the blankets to my chest, breathing hard.

Cold sweat covers my body. I don't know where I am, and wherever I am, I don't remember how I got there.

At the moment, I don't care, either.

"Edward," I say, my voice scratchy, anguished. "Edward—no! Don't go. _Don't_. Please! Please..."

On the second please, my door slams open, and Renee rushes in. She's wrapped in her faded pink robe, and her face is pale, her eyes scared.

"Baby," she cooes, her voice more panicked than soothing. "Baby what's the matter? Was it the dream again? Are you okay? Tell me you're okay."

"I'm fine." I reply, realizing with a start where I am, and what is happening.

When I do, I have to fight back the urge to cry.

"I'm absolutely fine." I say, hoping my voice is convincing, but sure that it is not. "I was just having a...an, um, nightmare."

"A nightmare?" Renee looks at me, pointedly, concern shining in her eyes, one hand going to her hip, the other up in her messy hair. "A random nightmare, or The Nightmare? Were you dreaming about that day again? You're not still afraid from that car crash, are you?"

"Almost car crash." I remind her, like I always do. "And no, of course not."

It's not a complete lie. I'm not still worried about that almost car crash. That part I could care less about. It's the part that came after it that has me up at all hours of the morning. Even three months after the actual event. Even when I should have moved on. Even when he obviously has.

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Mom. Of course. Just a regular nightmare. You know...scary monsters. Werewolves, vampires, and the like."

Renee rolls her eyes at me like she doesn't quite believe what I'm selling her, but nods, turns off the light, and retreats from my room.

Then I'm left to myself. I can drop the façade. Can face my actual feelings without Renee to worry about me.

Can remember Edward Cullen's perfect face for one last time, as he bent over me, and said the words that haunt me to this day.

"I can't do this. I have to go."

He had left the moment the paramedics had came for us, dashing for his car and driving away before anyone could go after him.

In all the rush and roar, I hadn't had time to ask him two things.

One: how he had gotten over to me—saved me—so fast, and Two: If, when he said he had to go, he meant forever.

I still don't know the answer to the first question, but the second one was pretty obvious from the look on his face.

Muffling my face with my pillow, I take a shuddering breath, and start to cry. Not strong enough to hold it back, anymore. The tears slipping down my face in rivulets, one drop of salty water for every day that I've been exiled back to Phoenix, and for every day that Edward has been gone.

The darkness a backdrop for my sorrow, I cry until it is time to wake up.

I cry until it is time to face another day...another piece of eternity.

The only problem? I'm not sure how much longer of this part of eternity I can take.

* * *

Hi. Thanks for reading! I plan on this being a multi-chaptered story, with alternating point of views from Bella to Edward. Please keep reading, and maybe even favorite this story so you can monitor its going on abouts!

...or, even better, you could favorite me as an author and go check out my other pieces! And I would give you an imaginary chocolate-chunk cookies with that cheap, fattening, but delicious sugar cookie frosting on top!

No pressure, though.


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